10 Actors Who Turned Down Roles In MCU Movies

The Rejected Role: Arrogant surgeon turned Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange, soon to be played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

What Happened?: After convincing the whole world that he sucked in his fake documentary I'm Still Here, Phoenix quickly reminded us all why we loved him to begin with thanks to stunning performances in Her and The Master.

Surprisingly, Phoenix was looking to continue his comeback with help from Marvel. While Phoenix praised the MCU, in the end he was reluctant to jump aboard such a massive project that didn't meet his creative sensibilities:

"I just don’t know if I want to have the experience of being in them. I’ve read some of those scripts and 75 percent is a description of some asteroid going through space."

For Better Or Worse?

We've yet to see what Cumberbatch bring to the role, but I'd guess that he'd be better suited for the role than Phoenix.

That's not to say he's a bad actor (far, far from it) but judging by his above quote, it doesn't seem like such a role is a match for Phoenix. So he's free to take on more serious roles and we'll soon be treated with Cumberbatch as our latest MCU hero.